


Routine

by skyspecter



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:47:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6607810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyspecter/pseuds/skyspecter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawke would always visit, and then they'd drink wine, talk, then maybe contemplate in silence. It was just routine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Routine

Whenever Hawke went out to travel, doing battles on the Wounded Coast or just finding herself wandering the mountains, she'd always come back to Kirkwall with a glint in her eye and a grin on her face.

Sometimes Fenris would come along, and sometimes he didn't.  But more often than not, Hawke would end up in his mansion after every journey. 

She would always enter his place with a quip on its constant state of disarray. Today it was : “That dead body would look better if you pushed it _just_ an inch more to the left. What do you think, Fenris?”

He rolled his eyes, “I apologize, I've never had the eye for interior design.”

She laughed, heading up the stairs, ”Oh now, now, don't sell yourself short. I rather love the wine-bottle-thrown-at-the-walls look.”

He shook his head and headed down to the wine cellar. Still plenty of bottles for him to go through, he noted as he took one from the seemingly endless racks. He cleaned off the dusty bottle with a rag that he'd kept in the cellar, made a note to himself that he'd need to clean it, or maybe change it soon.

As he walked back up to the main room, he could hear Hawke doing something... again. Might be cleaning up the soot from the fireplace that he hadn't cleaned, well, until the last time that she had cleaned it out. Which was around four days ago.

No matter how many times he explained to her that she didn't need bother to clean it out, she'd just make a dismissive noise and continue what she was doing anyway. He had to admit he was mildly thankful for that, for even he started to do a little cleaning here and there when he was alone.

He headed up to the room, saw Hawke already lounging on the bench, or her bench, as she had dubbed it, fiddling with her pouches.

“Make yourself at home.' He deadpanned, and settled the bottle on the table. “So, how was the Wounded Coast?”

She grinned at him, fixing herself to a proper seated position. “Glad that you asked, Fenris.”

She took the bottle and uncorked it, took a drink then cleared her throat, beginning her story.

For today, it seemed that Aveline's sword had gotten stuck in one bandit, but was not deterred, fighting off another three by bashing them with her shield while two other bandits started to run away from the one woman battalion. Sebastian's bow and Isabela's blade had made quick work of the two. Isabela had then remarked about how Aveline put the fear of the Maker in men while Sebastian watched in half-fear and half-awe at the spectacle.

“Wait, what were _you_ doing?' Fenris asked, as Hawke handed the bottle of wine to him for his turn to drink.

“Looting, of course.' She'd said to him, and he had smiled and shaken his head.

Of course. It was Hawke, what else did he expect.

“Ah.” She remarked,' Speaking of loot.' She searched one pocket, and then another, and then another, and then _another_   before she pulled out something covered in parchment.

“Cheese.” She declared, unwrapping the item and breaking a small piece off before throwing it on the table.

He eyed the dairy warily. “Did you get that off a bandit?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him, “What do you think?”

He honestly didn't know how to respond. Looking from her to the cheese and back to her once more, he shrugged.

“Yes?”

Hawke laughed aloud, “Glad to know you think I'd offer you cheese I'd gotten from a dead bandit's body.” She coughed, trying to put on a straight face, but failing, “Really says a lot about our friendship.”

Fenris just shrugged again. “It's you, Hawke. Never know what to expect.” He grabbed the cheese and broke off a piece of his own, lightly sniffing at it before deeming it edible and taking a bite off of it.

Huh. It didn't taste as bad as he thought it would. Actually tasted pretty good, if he was honest.

“So how's dead bandit cheese taste, eh, Fenris?”

He took a swig from the bottle and offered her a small smile. “Rather good. I suppose their fear adds taste.” He pushed the bottle back to her, only about half left inside.

She chuckled and leaned on the table. “Oh, fine, if you must know.” She'd looked left to right, as if to scan the area for anyone listening, and whispered, “I bought it, alright. Granted, I used the money I'd gotten from selling the actual loot I'd taken from the dead bandits.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“Well, if anyone heard that I'd been buying some good fine cheese to share with a friend, everyone would start asking me if I could treat them too.” She whispered again, then leaned back and sighed.

“Maker knows everyone and their damned Mabari are asking me for help on something. _Oh_ _Hawke, I've got some mages in a cave, Oh Hawke, the Dragon Bone Pit has enormous spiders in the mines, Hey Hawke, can you help me find my cat?_ ”

She'd taken a gulp down of the wine and dramatically slammed it back on the table. “Oh what's a poor girl to do.”

“You could refuse.” He answered, mildly amused at the act.

“Yes, I could, but...”

“But?”

She hummed under her breath, “Seems wrong to do somehow. I mean I can help, and it's not like I don't get compensated in gold and occasionally a few potions.” She broke off another piece of cheese and stared at it, “Just tiring that almost everyone comes to me, I mean,” she popped the cheese in her mouth, chewing on it thoughtfully, “aren't there any other poor, unfortunate sods out there that they can ask?'”

Fenris paused for a bit, mulled over an answer, “Well, there's the possibility that you are the best, poor, unfortunate sod in Kirkwall.”

Hawke smiled at that, “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”

He looked around the room once, leaned on the table, and with a rather sly look in his eyes, he whispered, “Yes. But don't let that get around.”

She played along with him, nodding her head gravely. “Of course, of course. You have a reputation to keep up.”

Fenris gave another chuckle at that, and grabbed the bottle of wine as Hawke handed it back to him. He drank slowly this time, let the wine wash over his tongue, and then gulped it down with a sigh. He passed the bottle back to Hawke, and she drank in turn.

Their talks would always reach a point like this. Both of them just silent, passing the wine and whatever snack, if Hawke had brought one, around. They'd drink slower, just relax, mull over their thoughts in a companionable silence. Fenris was used to the quiet, especially since he lived alone in the mansion. Hawke on the other hand, well, she would never tell him, but he felt that she wanted, or, needed the quiet, needed the silence, needed some peace even for a while. And Fenris, now, he'd never tell her that he genuinely, dare he say it, loved her company.

In a Hightown mansion that belonged to his former master, a mansion he'd barely taken care of, where rubble and broken pieces of furniture still littered the several dusty rooms and where he was sure that the blood of the many thugs that Danarius had hired was still in between the cracks in the floors. It was in this run-down mansion where he and Hawke would find some respite.

He didn't notice the time, just knew that they had finished the bottle of wine, had finished all of the cheese, and the fire crackling was dimmer than it was earlier.

Hawke sighed, and Fenris spared her a glance. Her eyes were glassy, red, and he could see the wear and tear along the lines of her face. It was an unspoken rule with them, they'd never talk about how badly tired they were, or whatever problems were plaguing them. At least, they never talked about it during their sessions like this. There was a time and a place for deeper conversations, which they had done before, but whatever they had, whatever this moment was, it was their time to forget about those problems.

Maybe Fenris had stared at her too long, but when he blinked back from his thoughts, Hawke was looking at him. She smiled at him, and he offered a small smile back.

She looked away from him, seemingly in thought, and then she let out an “Oh, right!”

Fenris looked at her, tilted his head in query.

Hawke chuckled to herself, “Almost forgot.”

She started checking her bags, rifling through all of them, face screwed in concentration. She had as many bags as she did pockets, and he'd just watched her with slight amusement then just leaned back against his chair.

“It's in this one for sure...” she muttered under her breath, “Or not.”

Now he'd chuckled at that, “Need any help there, Hawke?”

She offered him a quick glance, grinning, “No need, Fenris, and plus, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.”

Surprise, she said. But Fenris knew what she would give him, as she would give him the same thing every time.

She eventually piped up an “Aha!” and pulled out a book encased in leather. Hawke slid the book towards him, propped her arms up on the table, looking at him expectantly.

He reached out for the book, its cover already faded. He flipped through some of the pages, a slow smile forming on his face.

“So, what do you think?” Hawke said, her eyes filled with mirth, waiting for his reaction.

“Wines throughout Thedas.” he read, “I expected something worse, at least.”

Hawke seemed rather pleased with herself, still grinning quite widely at him. “Well, It was either that or Hard in Hightown. I thought you would prefer er, a lighter reading material.”

Fenris stood up, walking to his bookshelf, and placed the book into one of the shelves. Ten books now, three, he had bought for himself, the other six, given by Hawke, and a copy of the Chant of Light from Sebastian.

He looked back at Hawke, who was watching him with interest. “Well,” he said, “I suppose it's definitely better than _50 Other Uses for Broadswords That Don't Include Fighting_.”

She laughed, “Hey, I've given you books with more substance!”

He shook his head, grabbing some firewood from the corner, “But it seems you can't help yourself from giving the occasional odd gift or two.”

“I promise the next one will be better.” She grinned, getting up from her seat and stretching out the kinks in her back.

“I look forward to it,” he replied, throwing the wood into the fireplace, watching the flames slowly devour the piece of wood, making the room brighten up.

And at this point, their time was up. Hawke would always smile at him before she left, ask him if he wanted to have dinner at The Hanged Man. Sometimes Fenris would come along, and sometimes he didn't.

But the night would always end with her never really saying goodbye, tonight it was : “Visit you again soon and I swear I'll bring a better book next time.”

He nodded at her, “Thank you for the book, and the company, as usual.'”

Hawke shook her head, “Don't mention it Fenris.”

And with that, he'd say “Stay safe, Hawke.” And he'd head back up to his mansion, and she'd head towards her estate.

He looked around his room, and then headed towards his bookshelf again; grabbing the book that Hawke had given him. He flipped through the pages quickly, but then stopped, when a small piece of paper fell out from the book.

This was new, he thought to himself. He picked up the paper, and it was a note it seemed.

' _Thank you for putting up with my visits, even though I think I'm being bother. I hope not, I really look forward to our talks. Anyway, see you soon. -H'_

Fenris smiled, and stuck the note back in the book. He flipped to the first page, and then started reading, as he always did. But he'd kept thinking of the note at the back of his mind, and he let himself hope, even just a little. That whatever that note meant, whatever it meant to Hawke, he hoped that it would end up being part of their routine.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm making fics again amen. basically made this fic with my hawke in mind though lmao. will be posting more fics soon. er, hopefully.


End file.
